Konai lingua
Setting Phonology Consonants *Phonemes marked by asterisk (/ɸ, ʑ, ɣ/) are marginal. Generally they do not occur in native Konai words. */c, ɟ/ before /i/ can become affricates dʑ. *Before /i/, alveolar /t, d, n, s/ become palatal ɟ~dʑ, nʲ, ɕ. *Lateral approximant /l/ is palatal ʎ before /i/, /e/; velar L or labio-velar ɰ~ɰʷ before /u, o/; velarized ɫ before /a/. */z/ and marginal /ʑ/ can have a variation of a palatal affricate dʑ, especially before /i/. *Voiceless /p, t, c~tɕ, k, ts/ can be slightly aspirated. */r/ is apical flap. It may be pronounced similar to English flapped d''. */w/ is compressed voiced labio-velar approximant. It may vary between ɰ and β or ɰʷ. */h/ may have variants ç before /i, e/; velar x before /a/; labialized xʷ~hʷ before /u, o/. Vowels */a/ is an open central vowel; */e/ is a close-mid front vowel, similar to English e in bed; */i/ is a close front vowel; */o/ is close-mid rounded back vowel; */u/ is close back compressed vowel, similar to Japanese 'u'. Orthography The following letters of Latin alphabet are used to write Konai: '''Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Rr Ss Tt Uu Ww Yy Zz' The following rules apply: */c/ is written a 'ch'; this is the only context when 'c' is used; */ɟ/ is written as 'j'; 'j' is always pronounced as /ɟ/, never as /y/; */ɕ/ is written 'sh'; */ʑ/ is written 'zh'; */j/ is written 'y'; 'y' is always used for 'j' consonant sound, never for 'i' or 'y' vowels. Long vowels are written as follows: */a:/ is written 'aa'; */o:/ is written 'ou'; */u:/ is written 'uu'; */e:/ is written 'ei'; */i:/ is written 'ii'. To distinguish between long vowels /o:/, /e:/ and vowel sequences /ou/, /ei/ diaeresis on second letter can be used. Phonotactics Basic Grammar = Verb sample paradigms Primary forms *U-stem stands for the non-past/present tense. It is also a dictionary form for verbs. *A-stem is used to append past tense, voice and negative markers. It cannot be used on its own. *E-stem is a gerund stem; it is used mainly for building compound verbs and build derived gerunds. It can be used as a predicate of a clause. -e roots has -ea before suffices starting with -e- (e.g. potential voice). *O-stem is used to append conditional and mood markers. It cannot be used on its own. *I-stem is an attributive form which is used as a noun modifier. It is the only form which can be used as noun modifier. It is the dictionary form for adjectives. Paradigm samples Meaning *Since Konai doesn't have an article and definiteness is guessed from a context, an English translation has articles in parentheses or translated as a general statement. * Horo aku ^^. * Horo neku. Origins of verb suffices *Usage of -r- for vowel stem verb comes from Japanese -ru for ichidan verbs. *Negative ne-ku, n-u comes from Indo-European n-, and also Japanese -nai, -nu. *Past tense -t- comes mostly from Japanese -ta, and also from German dental past tense marker. *Passive -re- comes from Japanese -(ra)-re-(ru) and for less extent from Latin -r. *Causative -sa- comes from Japanese -(sa)-se-(ru). *Gerund II -te comes from Japanese -te. *Conditional -shi, -kanno come from Latin si, quando. Noun particles *'ga' Origin: jap., kor. ga Marks a subject of a clause. *'nen', '-en' after -n Origin: lat. ''-m''Marks a direct object of a transitive verb. *'''-i''' Origin: lat. ''-i''Marks an attribute of a noun. It can also be used as a subject of a embedded clause instead of ga. *'na' Marks an attribute of a noun. It's always written together with preceding noun. *'de' Marks an instrument; marks a passive verb agent. *'ni' Marks an indirect object. *'e' Origin of a movement. *'da' Movement direction. *'ko' Marks a companion or an instrument. With ''-i'' and na markers it can be used as an attribute of noun. This case has a slightly different meaning than an attribute clause with esu verb. E.g. esu-clause can be in past tense, though ko-clause does not convey any tense meaning. Ii ga mashigan koi uomo aku. ''"This is a man with a machine gun." ''Ii ga mashigan kona uomo aku. ''"This is a machinegunner." (cf. ''Ii ga mashingan ko uomo ''ak''u. ''"This is a man and a machine gun.") ''Ii ga mashingan ga eshi uomo ''ak''u. "This is a man who has a machine gun." Ii ga mashingan ga esachi uomo ''ak''u. "This is a man who had a machine gun." *'shine' Absence of a companion or an instrument. With ''-i'' and na markers it can be used as an attribute of noun; as with'' ko'', it has a slightly different meaning than an attribute clause with neku verb: Ii ga domu shinei kani ''ak''u. "This is a dog without a home." Ii ga domu shine na kani ''ak''u. "This is a homeless dog" Ii ga domu ga esanei kani ''ak''u. "This is a dog who has no home." Ii ga domu ga esanecchi kani ''ak''u. "This is a dog who had no home." Dictionary Word roots are mainly devised from European language roots with necessary sound changes. Sounds are changed according to the following scheme: * consonant clusters are broken by inserting between the consonants the vowel which follows the cluster; the vowel which followed the cluster is doubled: Lat. arbor (from Old Lat. arbos) > arobousi; Lat. grex, gregis > geregi; * if root end in a consonant over than /n/, /u/ is added after labial consonants, /i/ after all other: Lat. urbs, urbis > urubu. Latin roots For core vocabulary, Latin roots are mainly used. The following rules apply: * Nouns of 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th Latin declentions, root with thematic vowel is used; * For the third declention, pure root (as it's seen is genetive case) is used; * -r- which evolved from -s- due to rhotacism, is transfered as -s-. * Root may be cut in case it is longer than 3 syllables. Samples: * 1st: aqua > akua * 2nd: hortus > horotou (with -o- insertion to keep CV syllable structure, final o is made long); filius > wili * 3rd: homo, hominis > homin * 4th: domus > domu; manus > manu * 5th: dies > jie; facies > wakie Example text Keipisa ni Deo ga keilo ko tera nen kereiwata. '' 'In principio Deus creavit caelum et terram. *''keipisa from keipiru from Lat. coepi '''to being' *''deo from Lat. deus 'god' *''tera from Lat. ''terra 'earth' *''keilo'' from Lat. caelum 'heaven' Category:Languages